What is and What Never Should Be
by squareification
Summary: Four best friends never knew the price they'd have to pay for the mistakes hidden in their families' pasts. When history begins to repeat itself in the newly rebuilt halls of Hogwarts, will anyone be able to stop it? OCs/some canon.
1. Abby

Ch. 1

It was precisely 4:23 in the afternoon when I made the bet that would change my life. Not that I knew that at the time.

"Let's make a wager." Rea declared above the excited rumble of voices that filled the dining hall. "If Gryffindor wins, you'll get Veronica back for me. If they lose…I'll give you all of my pumpkin pasties."

She plucked a biscuit from the basket on the table in front of her and grinned at me slyly. She had a way of declaring challenges with just the twist of a smile. Her little "challenges" got me in detention with alarming frequency during my first year. Since then, I'd been a little more cautious about getting competitive with her.

"_Veronica?_ Your cat? She's been hiding on the roof of the herbology greenhouse for days!" I shook my head, stirring my soup. "That's hardly worth it."

"Are you only disagreeing about the cat? You realize you'd be betting against me." Rebecca raised an eyebrow at me, brown eyes wide. "Thanks for the support before my first Quidditch game of the year."

"I know, Bex. I know." I rolled my eyes, "Take it up with cat-woman here." I pointed at Rea.

"Hey, it's just a friendly wager." She kept that sly gaze trained on me. "But if you don't wanna risk it…"

I thought for a moment, "Well, Slytherin _does_ have an awesome chaser this year. They're team looks pretty good, actually."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Rebecca asked, sounding slightly offended.

"Nothing, nothing!" I needed to start thinking before I spoke. "Everyone knows you're the best chaser Hogwarts has seen since Harry Potter!" I grinned and handed her a biscuit. "You'll probably have the Slytherins running scared. Er…flying."

She shot me a look, "Right. That's why you wanna bet against me."

"You know she can't say no to a challenge." Rea was laughing, elbowing me in the ribs. "It's a fatal flaw."

"Shut up," I grinned despite myself, my fingers reflexively wrapping themselves around the antique locket I wore around my neck. It was a family heirloom my grandmother had entrusted to me. I'd never been able to get it open, but I was quite proud of it anyway. The antique silver filigree details were beautiful, functional or not.

"My best friends are impulsive losers." Rebecca sighed.

"Only the best impulsive losers around." Rea laughed before turning to me, "So it's a bet?"

"Eh, why not?" I shrugged and shook hands with her. I probably wouldn't have to climb up after the cat or anything if I lost. I could probably use a spell or something. I imagined planting my feet in the grass in front of the greenhouse and calling out, _accio Veronica!_ More ridiculous things had probably been done before.

"That's it. I'm playing extra hard tonight just to spite you. I'd be worth it to see you try to catch that cat." Rebecca said, "She is a fluffy grey ball of evil."

"She has discerning taste. Just because she doesn't like you doesn't mean she's evil. She's only hiding in the first place because you traumatized her." Rea frowned.

"Setting a Screeching Salamander after her was a joke!" I giggled. Screeching Salamanders were the newest toy from the newly re-opened Weasly's Wizard Wheezes. If you wound them up, they let out the most magnificent caterwauling and ran around the room in circles before exploding in a cloud of glowing confetti. They were great fun at parties. Not that Rea appreciated Rebecca and I setting them after Veronica.

"Ol' Yellow Eyes had it coming." Rebecca grinned. Yellow Eyes was her nickname for Veronica. Not exactly a term of endearment.

I took a big slurp of chilled cucumber soup, grinning at Rea as she scraped lemon curd from her biscuit with a disgusted look on her face. Her sandy blond hair hung dangerously close to her plate and Rebecca, who was sitting to my right giggled at her as her hair dragged through the yellow gunk.

"Aw, crap. That isn't funny, you guys!" Rea narrowed her blue eyes at Rebecca and wiped a lock of hair on her napkin.

"_I_ thought it was pretty funny." Rebecca snickered.

It was a semi-chilly September afternoon and the ceiling of the dining hall reflected the low-hanging clouds that pressed down upon the school from outside. A group of rowdy Gryffindors began singing and shouting on the other end of the table and various kids joined in. I almost did too, even though I'm a Ravenclaw. Technically, Rea and I both shouldn't have been sitting with Rebecca, but we'd never been scolded for it. Rea was a Hufflepuff and I was a Ravenclaw, but we always seemed welcome to sit at the far back end of the Gryffindor table with Rebecca.

"Hey, remember that time when Brandi set her hair on fire in charms?" I asked.

Brandi was another good friend. She was like a sister to us even thought she was from Slytherin. The hair incident happened during our third year when we were learning a simple charm to make water appear in a chalice. Somehow hers backfired and lit the front layers of her hair on fire. No one was hurt, but it left the classroom smelling for the rest of the week.

"Wasn't that hilarious?" Regan asked, grinning.

While all three of us laughed, it ended with a hollow feeling. I glanced over to the Slytherin table. I could just see the back of her head in the crowd. Her green and pink highlights stood out amidst the sea of brunette. She was giggling at something, her short pigtails swishing with the movement. I knew I wasn't the only one looking at her. Rebecca and Rea were, too. Ever since the start of this year, our fifth year, she'd been acting strange. She never sat with us at meals anymore and she'd been communicating with us less and less. Rebecca even tried sending her an owl once, and didn't get a reply.

I tried not to think about it, but couldn't stop myself. What had changed? We hadn't gotten to see each other over the summer, but nothing in particular had happened between us to upset her… She seemed different. _Tired._ She wasn't her same giggly self this year. Not with us, at least. She looked at home at the Slytherin table, her dark robes drawn around her small frame. But she was awkward with us. Like she didn't even like to look at us anymore.

None of us wanted to talk about the change. So, none of us did.

"Well," Rebecca tore her gaze from Brandi and tried to smile. "The game starts in a little bit. I should get going."

"Right," I nodded.

"Good luck! I'll be rootin' for ya!" Rea smiled.

"Good to know at least one of you is." Rebecca shot a sarcastic glare at me, holding back a grin. She stood and waved good bye to us before joining a couple of her team mates and filing out the dining hall. They were all already decked out in their uniforms and everyone at the table cheered for them as they left, the atmosphere jubilant despite the chilly weather.

"Dang, Bex is lookin' good this year."

The voice was Flynn MacCormick's. He was a Gryffindor in the same year as us. He'd been on the outskirts of our lives since first-year potions class. He was known for his silver-blue eyes and biting sarcasm. But probably more infamously than that, he was known for being hopelessly in love with Rebecca.

"Shut up, Flynn. I'm the only one allowed to call her Bex." I flicked him in the nose like a misbehaving puppy. He'd been sitting on my other side, talking with a few of his other friends before he'd nosed in on Rea and me.

"Youch," He rubbed at his nose, "No need to get territorial, Sweetie."

"Bite me." I rolled my eyes.

He grinned, "I didn't know you felt that way, Abby."

"Shut up." I shook my head. Flynn and I usually went at it, but today I was extra grumpy after being reminded or Brandi. I tried to tune out Rea's snickering and finished off my soup, hoping we'd get to leave for the game soon.

A few hours later, I stood shivering in the night mist. Rea, Rebecca, and I had managed to slip away from the post-game buzz of the castle and out to the greenhouse.

That's right, I lost the fricken bet. Rebecca had made sure of it.

Despite the fact that bludgers took out two of Gryffindor's chasers and beaters and that a thick mist blinded the players, Rebecca managed to score a staggering fifty points for Gryffindor before their seeker caught the snitch at the last second. It had been a good game, Slytherin being close enough on Gryffindor's tail to make it suspenseful. Some speculated already that Slytherin and Gryffindor would end up being the final two teams of the season.

And now I found myself standing on the soggy grass in front of the herbology greenhouse. Rea and Rebecca stood behind me, waiting with their arms crossed. I turned to face them, feeling ridiculous.

"What're you waiting for? Climb." Rea gestured to the greenhouse.

"You're expecting me to _climb_?" I raised an eyebrow, "Are you mad?"

She just looked at me expectantly, Rebecca snickering at her side.

"Fine, fine. At least hold my wand." I handed Rea my wand before hesitantly approaching the greenhouse, just able to make out the shape of the wretched cat near the edge of the roof.

I took in a deep breath, knowing this was foolish. I touched my locket for a moment, as if it could give me extra courage. Cautiously, I set one foot on one of the many metal bars that wrapped around the glass casing of the greenhouse. It was very slippery and cold because of the weather, but a bet was a bet. I grabbed a bar further up and hoisted myself higher, slowly making my way up the side of the greenhouse. Veronica hissed at me as I approached, whiskers glowing white in the cloud-filtered moonlight. She took a slow step away from me.

"Shh, here, kitty kitty." I spoke, my voice escaping in little clouds in the chilled air.

"Do you see 'Ol Yellow Eyes?" Rebecca called up to me as I crested the top of the greenhouse.

"Unfortunately," I called back.

"Hey, I can hear you saying that about my cat." Rea exclaimed.

I carefully edged toward the cat, pulling myself onto the greenhouse room and wedging a foot on one of the metal bars for balance. "You're the sassiest Hufflepuff in existence, I swear." I grumbled, trying to reach the cat. It growled and backed further away from me. "Here, kitty!" I soothed. It moved further away, clawing out at me and narrowly missing my face. "C'mere, you dense punk." I hissed back, impatient.

Finally, the horrid creature let out an awful wail. Its hackles raised and it lashed out, claws slashing across my face. I recoiled in pain, both of my hands automatically covering my now-bleeding cheek protectively. In the process of moving, my foot slid across the metal bar with a squeak and I lost my balance, sliding until half of my body hung off the edge of the greenhouse. I'm fairly certain a curse word flew from my mouth, but no one could hear it above Veronica's howls. I gripped at the frigid glass surface as I blindly searched for a new foothold.

"Abby! Look out!" Rebecca shouted.

"Huh?" I turned to see Veronica lunge at me. "Oh my-"

And then I was sliding down the edge of the greenhouse. Everything happened so quickly. In a moment of panic, I reached out for something to catch myself, but found nothing. I hit my head on the way down, a resounding _crack_ filling the quiet night air. Finally, the breath was forced from my lungs as I hit the ground, landing on my back. I closed my eyes, afraid to move as pain spread through my body.

"Crap! Abby?"

I could hear Rea and Rebecca rush to my side as I struggled for breath. My fingers curled until they gripped two healthy sized chunks of grass. I gasped, my eyes flying open. Rea and Rebecca stood over me, coming in and out of focus in my shaken vision.

"You're bleeding!" Rebecca exclaimed, gesturing to my forehead. I could feel my skin stinging in the freezing air, but nothing more. I decided to take her word for it.

Veronica padded to Rea's side and sat, tail swishing contentedly. Stupid fur ball had jumped down on its own after I fell. I scowled, my head throbbing.

"I'll…I'll be fine." I sat up slowly, my head swimming.

"Hey…what's going on with your necklace?" Rea crouched by my side and looked at my locket.

Rebecca carefully followed suit, "It's opened!"

I blinked slowly, trying to process what they said through my brain fog. "It has?" I looked down at it. Sure enough, the delicate silver oval had been pried open after the force of my fall.

"There's parchment inside! It says something!" Rea squinted at it.

"Wow, it does!" Rebecca examined it, leaning close to me.

She blurred in and out before me as my head throbbed painfully. One of my hands went up to my forehead and returned with blood on the fingertips. I cringed.

"I can just make it out," Rebecca continued, curiosity keeping her from noticing my shock, "_Find me in the room that comes and goes._"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Rea asked, furrowing her eyebrows.

"Why…why don't I mull that one over…in a little bit." I lowered myself back to the soggy grass, black spots forming in my vision. "I'm…bleeding…_a lot_, guys."

"Do you need to go to the infirmary?" Rebecca asked, an appropriate level of concern finally coloring her voice.

I just closed my eyes and nodded slowly. I was becoming less and less aware of my surroundings until everything swirled away from me, leaving me suspended in darkness.


	2. Rebecca

Chapter Two- Rebecca

It turns out that Rea and I are the last people you want to help you when you get hurt. At first, we tried wrapping Abby's arms around our shoulders, but her body was limp so she sort of just dragged on the ground. Then Rea tried to carry her like she was giving her a piggyback ride, but Abby slid down her back and plopped back down again.

"Rea, we're only making it worse!" I said, pointing to Abby, who laid helplessly on the soggy grass.

"How 'bout you grab her arms and I grab her legs?" proposed a hopeless Rea.

"Oh yeah, that way we can pop her joints out of place, too! Look, why don't you stay here and I'll run inside and get some help?" I suggested, frustrated by the difficulty of this entire situation.

"Fair enough," she said with a shrug, and then knelt down to lift Abby's head off of the ground, while I sprinted inside.

It wasn't until I reached the Gryffindor Common Room that I realized how absolutely tired I was. Exhaustion seeped through my muscles, making it almost impossible to merely stand up straight. The adrenaline that had once coursed through my veins, filling me with an unfathomable source of energy, left me empty and exasperated. But my worry for my best friend measured higher than my sleepy debilitation, so I kept frantically searching for the one person I knew would help me.

"Flynn!" I cried when I saw his blonde hair in a crowd of celebrating Gryffindors.

"Bex!" He mimicked my tone. I made a mental note to scold him for calling me that later.

I maneuvered my way through the crowd, getting a few congratulatory pats on the back from my fellow Gryffindors. There were a few chants and cries of, "Go Gryffindor!" and our seeker, Grant Hamilton, was hoisted on the shoulder's of some seventh year Gryffindors. Flynn, suddenly reappearing in the sea of people, pushed passed quite a few Gryffindors until he reached me. I grabbed his arm, pulling him away from the mass of cheering students that were crowding the common room.

"Have you finally come to your senses and decided to have your way with me?" He joked.

"In your dreams," I muttered as I pushed through more students, "I really need your help with something."

"Well," he started, "I _suppose_ I could help you."

"It has to do with Abby." I warned, turning around to look at him.

"What? _God_, no! Ugh, you know I can't stand her," snapped Flynn, trying to break out of my grasp that I had on his arm.

"Trust me," I said, batting my eyelashes flirtatiously, "the feeling is mutual."

"I guess I could help, but for a price," He said, batting his eyelashes in a similar suit.

"Of course you have a price," I mumbled, clearly annoyed.

"I get to take you out on a date," he blurted out much too loud for my liking.

"You-you-you little snake! Why did I ever think to ask you? Ugh! Just go back to the Gryffindor common room and I will find someone-"

"Okay, okay! I'll help you. But the second she starts insulting me, I'm outta there!"

"Deal," I said.

He didn't need to know that she was unconscious and wouldn't be able to insult him even if she wanted to-which she would. I led him through the Great Hall, and outside where Abby and Rea were. Our vision was masked by a sea of gray fog, and there was a cold drizzle that stung as it touched our skin. I could barely make out Rea's thin silhouette against the fog, so I grabbed Flynn's hand and ran over.

"Bloody hell, what happened?" asked Flynn upon seeing Abby.

"She fell off of the herbology greenhouse," said Rea dismissively.

"How," he said, tossing Abby over his shoulder so effortlessly, "do you guys manage to find trouble everywhere you go?"

Rea and I rolled our eyes in response.

"You realize that Abby is going to be furious when she finds out that you got _him_ to help her?" whispered Rea.

"That's why she's _not_ going to find out!" I snapped and then pretended to zip my mouth close and throw away the key.

Rea snickered in reply, and we both walked in silence behind Flynn and the unconscious Abby. The blood had finally stopped flowing down her face, but now it just laid in dried splotches on her face.

Looking at her, I felt overridden with guilt. I should have been up there with her, or should have acted when she was falling. But, like a coward, I did nothing.

And that has to be the worst feeling in the world.

Madame Toubib healed Abby in minutes, and didn't even bother asking us what happened because she knew it would be some outrageous story. Over the years, I've gotten to know Madame Toubib quite well. She's an older lady, with silvery-blonde hair and an aptitude for witty comebacks. And while she might be a little feisty and disapproving of our crazy antics, she was always kind and kept her mouth shut about our 'adventures'.

"Where's the other girl? You know, the one with the wild hair?" asked Madame Toubib.

This was the second time today that I found myself missing Brandi and her wildly colored hair. It stung like it always did when I thought about her, and our friendship that suddenly deteriorated. I thought about how _happy_ she looked this morning at the Slytherin table, and wondered how everything shifted in a blink of the eye.

"She's probably sulking with her fellow Slytherins," said Rea, breaking the silence.

"Oh, I heard that the game was very close. I didn't make it down to see it. Sorry, Rebecca, I'll be sure to go next time," she said apologetically, and then left us alone.

"Nice save," I muttered, under my breath.

We sat in wobbly, wooden chairs next to Abby's bed, anxiously waiting for her to wake up. Her brown hair laid in perfect spirals framing her face. She looked beautiful; the worried and studious expression completely vanished and was replaced with a soft, peaceful one. Rea and I sat in silence, enjoying the brief moment of peace amidst the chaos.

Abby woke up about thirty minutes later. Her eyes fluttered open for a second, but the bright, intense light was too much for her. She closed her eyes shut, and brought her hands to her head.

"How long was I out for?" She groaned, her eyes still clenched shut.

"About an hour," said Rea, "how do you feel?"

"Peachy," moaned Abby.

I laughed at this. I loved how-despite everything-Abby always had a sense of humor. I handed Abby a small glass of unidentifiable potion Madame Toubib had let for her to drink once she woke up. She slowly sipped the potion, and judging by the look on her face, it was no pumpkin juice.

"This," she said, taking another sip, "is ghastly."

"Rea, _you_ should drink it," I said, smirking at my Hufflepuff friend.

"What? No! You're insane!" joked Rea.

"It was your bloody cat that made her fall!"

"I cannot control the actions of Veronica. She is a free-willed kitty, and you, of all people, should appreciate that!" Rea's words were slightly muffled and incoherent from the laughter she trying to suppress.

"Drink it, drink it, drink it!" I chanted, my fists pounding against the air.

"Never!" shouted Rea, shaking her sandy blonde hair.

She gave me a playful push on the shoulder, making her chair give this incredibly loud _creak._I tried to push her back, but the chair teetered back and forth, so I ended up missing Rea, and nearly toppling out of my chair. Unfortunately, this only delighted Rea further.

"What do you say, Abbs?" I asked, giving Abby a playful wink.

"Well," she said, in an even voice, "would ya look at that? I have just enough for one last sip!"

Abby extended the small glass to Rea, who reluctantly snatched the drink from her hand. Rea sniffed the contents of the potion, and gagged.

"If I die from this, you better take care of Veronica," she warned.

"If we can get that vile creature off of the greenhouse, I'll be sure to take _great_care of her," muttered Abby.

Rea shot her a look before chugging the remains of the potion.

"Merlin, I think I'm gonna puke," said Rea, who was, indeed, looking quite green.

"Welcome to my world," said Abby, whose face displayed a faint hint of joy.

"You know I wasn't really going to make you drink it if you didn't want to," I said, giggling at my victory.

"Yes you would," they said in unison.

They had a point; I had a tendency to be relentless, especially when I messed with Rea.

Since the four-well, three now- of us were all in different houses, our personalities tended to be vastly different from one another.

Rea had the rare skill of being able to find the good in everything, even in the darkest of circumstances. Abby's intelligence and logical mannerisms were both mind-bogging and enviable. Brandi's ambition and dream-getting ways were infectious and could inspire even the most dreamless of people. And then there was me, who wasn't as kind as Rea, as intelligent as Abby or as ambitious as Brandi. Supposedly, I'm courageous, but in the grand scheme of things, what does that matter?

"You guys," said Rea, bringing me back to reality.

"What?" asked Abby.

"I feel…incredible! It's like I drank a whole cauldron of Liquid Luck!" Rea was pacing the hospital wing like a madmen, which, in a way, she was.

"And you thought you were going to die," I said, sarcasm laced in my words.

"I-I-I bet I could get Veronica! I bet I could _just __fly_up there and get her," said Rea whose arms were extended like she was, indeed, going to fly around the hospital wing.

Abby and I exchanged looks of concern, while Rea continued to pace-or perhaps _fly-_around the hospital wing. And just like she always did when she was worried, Abby reflexively reached for her locket. Her eyes widened in shock as she felt that her seemingly unbreakable locket was still open.

"Rebecca, where's the parchment?" Abby's voice was soft, but filled with concern.

"Oh, right. I forgot I had it," I said, pulling the worn parchment from my pocket.

"Let _me_ see it!" called Rea from the opposite side of the hospital wing.

"No!' retorted Abby and I.

Rea, who was giggling and muttering some incoherent chant, skipped over to Abby's bed. Rea's blue eyes were almost completely hidden by her huge, dilated pupils. Her hands were shaking profusely, and yet there was a permanent, steady grin on her face.

"Maybe you should get some water," suggested Abby.

Rea erupted into laughter.

"How come she is having such an extreme reaction to this?" I had to speak loudly in order to be heard of Rea's fits of chortling.

"She wasn't supposed to take it. I feel loads better but I was hurt in the first place. Rea wasn't," said Abby matter-of-factually.

I passed the parchment to Abby, who eagerly took it from my hands. She studied the faded cursive script; her eyes fixated on the riddle that none of us understood.

"'_Find__ me __in__ the__ room__ that__ comes __and __goes__'_. What's that supposed to mean?" said Abby, confusion laced within her words.

It was then something odd happened. A small, incomplete melody popped into my head. I sat, in that blasted wobbly chair, trying to figure out the missing notes that were somewhere stored in my memory, but I couldn't quite find it.

And then I remembered: my grandfather had given me a music box the day I was accepted into Hogwarts, and inside was a thick piece of parchment with faded cursive writing…

"Oh my gosh!" I exclaimed.

"What?" asked both Abby and Rea.

I stood up, my mind racing from the memory of the music box and the mysterious parchment that I never understood. Rea, who was squirming wildly in the seat next to me, and Abby gave me a strange look.

"I-I need to go check something. I'll be right back, I swear!" With that said, I dashed out of the hospital wing.

For the second time that day, I found myself sprinting to the Gryffindor common room. When I arrived, the cheering crowd had dispersed, and everyone was off in their own little group doing their own little thing. I noticed Flynn, lounging around with his friends near the stairs to the boy's dormitories. Not wanting to be bugged by him or his bothersome friends, I stealthily maneuvered my way into the girl's dormitories.

The dorm was relatively empty, which was a nice relief from the nonstop squealing and laughter that was usually filling the dormitory. I ran to my room, flopping down on the ground to get my suitcase that I kept underneath my bed. I had to give the handle several tugs until I was able to slide the suitcase out.

To say my suitcase was falling apart was an understatement. There were some claw marks along the side of it, whom I know to be from Satan's pet, Veronica. A few buckles were missing from the time that Brandi, Abby, Rea and I almost missed the Hogwarts Express and I threw my suitcase inside of the train as an attempt to board on time.

The second I unbuckled my suitcase, I flung through my items, tossing clothes, robes and various items onto the floor behind me. I eventually found it, wrapped in my favorite maroon silk scarf. The music box was in the shape of a heart, and played a soft, lullaby-like song. It was incredibly old, and every time I opened it, the hinge threatened to break. The inside was incredibly small; I could only keep a few spare galleons and sickles in it.

The parchment was where it always was: stuck in between the velvety lining inside. My hands were shaking as I plucked it from the music box. I unfolded it carefully, making sure not to rip it. In careful, cursive script, it read:

_Find me in the room that comes and goes_

I didn't bother packing the things I had thrown out of my suitcase, I just took off to the infirmary as fast as my tired body would let me. As I raced across the common room, I could hear Flynn hollering after me, but there was no time for his bad jokes and petty pickup lines. Sprinting down the corridors, my head was racing even faster than my body.

I skidded to a stop in front of the hospital wing, and dashed to Abby's hospital bed.

"Uh, Rebecca?" asked a very concerned Abby.

I kneeled over, hands on my legs, desperate to catch my breath. Even Rea, who was still obviously crazy, managed to stop her squirming and watch me. My lungs were still burning, and my legs felt like lead. I waited a few more seconds, slowly catching my breath.

"When I got my Hogwarts acceptance letter," my voice comes out airy and soft, "my grandfather gave this music box. He said that it was tradition for it to be passed down in my family. Anyway, that-that-that's not important, what is, is the parchment I found inside of it."

I handed the piece of parchment to Abby, who then compared it to her own. Her face lost it's peace and was back to the thinking, logical expression she almost always wore. Rea leaned her face in close to the parchment, biting her lip to keep from laughing.

"What does this mean?" inquired Abby, clearly confused as I was.

"Well, it means that we've got to find this bloody disappearing room!" I said, bubbling at the thought of some mystery that needed to be solved.

"That's just it," said Abby, "we've got to find this room that comes and goes. And then what? Are our grandparents just going to magically appear there?"

"Let's take it one step at a time. Have either of you heard of a room that comes and goes?" I asked.

"No," said Abby

"Wait-don't you see? It's so _obvious_ I can't believe that I didn't realize this earlier," cooed Rea, who was back to her pacing.

"What?" asked Abby and I in unison.

Rea stops for a moment, her blue eyes big in anticipation and discovery.

"The room that comes and goes? Come on guys, this is an easy one." teased Rea.

"Just spit it out!" I cried

"It's the Room of Requirements."


	3. Rea

Chapter 3 – Reagan

There was a slight pause.

"The Room of Requirement? Are you sure?" questioned Abby.

"I'm pretty sure. I mean, what else could it be?" I replied.

"I think she's right, Abby," said Rebecca. "It makes perfect sense. What other room comes and goes?"

"Ok, so say it is the Room of Requirement," continued Abby, "how are we supposed to get there? No one has been there in years. Nobody even knows where it is!"

"Yeah, we'd have no way to find it. This is hopeless," said Rebecca.

"That's not entirely true," I muttered. "I know someone who might have an idea where it is."

"Really?" Abby asked curiously, "Who?"

"Billy."

Rebecca was chasing me down the corridor. "Rea, you don't have to do this!"

"Oh my goodness, Rebecca! It's not nearly as big of a crisis as you seem to think it is!"

"Yes it is! You're practically in love with this guy; it's going to kill you to talk to him!"

I stopped and turned around. "Look, it really isn't a big deal. I'll just go ask him about the Room of Requirement and leave. It'll be a 30 second conversation at the most. A totally normal, non-relationship related conversation. Is that ok with you?"

"You don't have to be so mean about it," she said, half sarcastically.

"I'm sorry. It's just… It's not quite as big of a deal as you're making it out to be."

"Rea, this is going to be the first time you talk to him since he told you he loves you. No matter what you say, it's a big deal."

I turned to walk away, "Well, I better get it over with then."

"Are you sure you want to do this right now? You're still kind of crazy from that potion you drank."

I stopped. "I'm fine. It's mostly out of my system anyway."

"Alright. I'm gonna head back to the hospital wing to be with Abby, alright? Good luck, Rea!" shouted Rebecca.

I yelled "Thanks!" and under my breath I said, "God knows I'll need it."

It took me over an hour to find Billy. He was hanging out in the library, which isn't all that surprising considering he's a huge nerd. He just loves to learn, which I find kind of bizarre. But to each his own, I guess. Billy is a seventh year Ravenclaw which is great because I won't have to see him around school next year. But it also really sucks because I won't get to see him around school next year. Obviously my relationship with Billy is complicated, to say the least. We've been friends for as long as I can remember and about a month ago, he told me he loves me. It would've been a beautiful moment if I hadn't completely freaked out and run away. I'm not very good with emotional stuff; it just isn't my strong suit. I had basically been avoiding him since that night, so seeking him out was very much against my nature.

When I found him in the library, he was sitting at a table alone, studying for some big potions test he had the next day. I stood there for a minute, unsure of how to start the conversation. I was just about to give up and walk away when he looked up at me.

"Hey, Rea," he practically whispered.

"Ummm… uh… hi, Billy."

"So you're finally talking to me again?"

I chuckled slightly, "Yeah, I guess so." I sat down across from him.

There was an awkward silence for what felt like forever. "So, how have you been, Rea?" he asked me.

"I've been good. Busy with school and stuff. You know, the usual." I thought to myself, _When did I become so horrible at talking?_

"So what did you want to talk about?" he asked me.

"Well, actually, I have a question. And I was hoping you could answer it."

"Is the question 'Will you go out with me?'" he asked half joking, half serious.

I rolled my eyes. "You wish."

"So do you," he said completely seriously.

My heart ached. "Look, can we not have this conversation right now? I'm actually kind of in a hurry. Abby is in the hospital wing an-"

"Oh my gosh, is she alright!"

"Yeah, yeah. She's fine. She's completely fine. It's just, she's in the hospital wing and we found these papers that say 'Find me in the room that comes and goes' and I figured it meant-"

"The Room of Requirement."

"My thoughts exactly."

"Well then you want to know where it is, don't you? That's what you came to ask me, isn't it?"

"Yes. That is exactly what I came here to ask you," I established.

"So, no date?"

"No date."

"I'm not going to give up, you know."

"Yeah, Billy. I know."

He half smiled at me before taking out a piece of parchment. He starting writing things down while I just sat there and waited. He looked up at me a few times while he was writing, giving me this look like he knew exactly what I was thinking or something like that. He probably did know exactly what I was thinking, he'd always been good at reading my mind.

Once he was finished writing, he folded up the parchment and handed it to me. I put it in my bag as he said, "That piece of parchment has everything you need to know about the Room of Requirement. Where it is, how to get in, things of the that nature."

"Thank you so much, Billy. This means a lot," I smiled.

"Yeah, just don't go telling people you got that information from me. I don't share my knowledge with just anyone. They have to special."

"Alright, I'll be sure to keep your knowledge a secret."

He chuckled a bit as he said, "Thanks."

"No problem," I said as I got up and began to walk away.

"Rea," he said. I turned to look at him and he said, "I hope you find what you're looking for."

"Me too," I leaned down and kissed him on the cheek and saw him half smile before I started to walk away and leave the library.

"See, that wasn't so hard now was it?" I said to myself as I was walking the corridors. Some first years looked at me like I was crazy so I stuck my tongue out at them. I need to find a more mature way to communicate with people that I don't know.

It took me awhile to get back to the hospital wing and by the time I got there, Abby and Rebecca were nowhere in sight.

"Well that's just great," I sarcastically muttered to myself.

I started walking toward the Great Hall, which is where we usually hang out in our free time. Since we're all in separate houses, it would be impossible to hang out in one of our common rooms; and we didn't want to hang out in the library because it was too quiet in there. I had also been avoiding Billy a lot lately, so the library was even more of a place to avoid.

I finally made it down to the Great Hall and saw Abby and Rebecca sitting at the Gryffindor table.

"Thanks for making me run over Hogwarts looking for you guys!" I said sarcastically.

"Well you took forever! Abby was released from the hospital wing and we were quickly shooed from the premises. We figured you'd find us eventually," said Rebecca.

"It really is your fault for taking so long," joked Abby.

"Well I'm sorry I took so long. It's not like I was getting helpful information or anything like that," I said as I took the parchment Billy had written on out of my bag.

"What's this?" Abby asked, grabbing and opening the parchment.

"According to Billy, this parchment contains everything we need to know about the Room of Requirement," I told them.

"By the way, how did that go? Was is weird talking to him or anything?" inquired Rebecca.

"It was fine," I said. "I just walked into the library, got the information from him, and walked out. It was all very professional."

"Then why did it take so long?" Rebecca asked.

Abby kicked her and shot her a look that clearly said, _"She obviously doesn't want to talk about it, so stop asking."_

"Sorry," mumbled Rebecca. "I was just wondering."

Rebecca, Abby, and I looked over the piece or parchment. "Rea, this is perfect!" exclaimed Abby. "Thanks a lot!"

"Don't thank me, thank Billy," I replied.

"According to this," continued Abby, "the Room of Requirement is on the seventh floor. It's entrance is across from the tapestry depicting of Barnabas the Barmy attempting to teach trolls ballet. Have either of you ever seen that tapestry?"

"I haven't," Rebecca said.

"Nope," I replied.

"That's unfortunate," muttered Abby. "I guess we'll have to search for it. Anyway, according to this, in order to enter the room we have to walk by the door three times, thinking about what you need, and the door will appear."

"Well, what exactly do we need?" I asked. "I mean, we have no idea what we're even looking for. Our only clues are pieces of paper telling us that something special is hidden in the Room of Requirement. We have absolutely nothing to go on."

Rebecca muttered, "This is hopeless."

"No, it's not," Abby interjected. "Who cares if we don't have anything to go on right now? We may as well find the room. It'll only get us closer to finding what we're looking for. And after we find it, we can search for more clues. We can do this guys."

I always admired Abby's can-do attitude. She could single-handedly build a house if she had to. Her little speech inspired me.

"Alright, I'm in. I'll see this through to the end. Until we find what we're looking for."

"Me too," said Rebecca.

We all smiled.

"Well then," I began, "it looks like we have some treasure to find."

"I really doubt that it's treasure," Rebecca replied.

We all got up and started heading out of the Great Hall as I said, "I know, Rebecca. I was joking around."

"Well your jokes aren't funny."

"You're just mean," I said as I playfully shoved her.

"Come on guys," Abby interrupted. "I think the staircase to the seventh floor is that way," she said, pointing to the right.

"No, I'm pretty sure it's that way," I said pointing the opposite direction.

"You're crazy," Rebecca said, heading to the right with Abby.

And so our adventure began.


End file.
